Lot 590: Jan Wandelaar (Dutch, 1690-1759) Musculorum, Tabula IV, from Tables of the skeleton and muscles of the human body by Bernard Siegfri...

Jan Wandelaar (Dutch, 1690-1759)

Musculorum, Tabula IV, from Tables of the skeleton and muscles of the human body by Bernard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770)
Signed "J. Wandelaar..." in the plate l.l.
Etching on paper, sight size 22 x 15 1/8 in., framed.
Condition: Hole in l.r. quadrant, subtle rippling, foxing, not examined out of frame.

N.B. The print at hand is described in detail in an entry from the Wellcome Library in London. The image shows an écorché figure, front view, with left arm extended, showing the bones and the fourth order of muscles, with a grazing rhinoceros in the background. The rhinoceros was an object of great interest, having arrived in Amsterdam in 1741. Albinus wrote of it, "On account of the rarity of the beast I thought that its form would be more pleasing than any other ornaments devised according to my own inclinations." (1)

1. accessed 11/17/11.